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AUSTRALIA — A newly discovered “super-Earth” planet may be able to sustain human life.
The planet, called GJ 832 c, has a mass that is at least five times larger than Earth, but it receives about the same stellar energy as our home planet and may have similar temperatures, according to researchers from the University of New South Wales. It is also relatively close to Earth at 16 light years away, compared to the 100,000 light year expanse of the Milky Way.
The Earth Similarity Index ranks the planet as one of the top three most Earth-like planets, according to the university. The Earth’s perfect ESI score is 1 and the new planet has an ESI of 0.81.
Seasonal shifts on the planet would be extreme, but professor Chris Tinney said in a statement that it could be possible for life to survive on the planet if the atmosphere is similar to Earth. However, he said researchers suspect the planet may have a massive atmosphere that would trap too much heat due to its large mass.
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It takes 16 days for the planet to orbit around a red dwarf star, which is dimmer than the Earth’s sun. There is also a cold planet similar to Jupiter that orbits the star, according to researchers.
“With an outer giant planet and an interior potentially rocky planet, this planetary system can be thought of as a miniature version of our Solar System,” Tinney said.
The research was published online on June 21 before being printed in the Astrophysical Journal.